Portable embroidery-hoop holder.



No. 663,424. Patented Dec. ll, I900. L. DIMOCK.

PORTABLE EMBROIDERY HOOP HOLDER.

- (Application filed Au 24, 1900.

(No Model.)

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LUCIUS DIMOCK, OF LEEDS, MASSACHUSETTS.

PORTABLE EMBROIDERY-HOOP HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 663,424, dated December- 11, 1900. Application filed August 24, 1900. Serial No. 27,934. (No model.)

To wZZ whom, it 722mg concern.-

Be it known that LLUCIUS DIMOOK,a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Leeds, in the county of Hampshire and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Portable Embroidery-Hoop Holders, of which the following is a specification.

My improvements relate to details having for their object generally an increased holding power in the hoop-clamping jaws, an increased facility in operating the holder, and a construction combining great strength with little weight; and the invention consists in the combination and arrangement as hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

My invention is fully illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which-- Figure I is a side elevation of my device combined with a table and having the clampjaws open. Fig. II is a side elevation of a portion of the device in partial section and showing the clamp -jaws closed upon the hoops. Fig. III is a front elevation of a portion of the holder with its jaws open. Fig. IV is a top plan view of the holder, and Fig. V is a detail view of a part of the device.

Referring to the drawings, A is the lower section of the holder, comprising at its rear end and integral with it a clamp 13, adapted to secure the device to a table or other support, a shank 0, extended horizontally from the clamp 13, a hoop-holding jaw D upon the end of the shank, and an upward extension or flange E from the shank C.

A screw-socket for a vertical clamp-screw F is provided in the shank intermediate to the jaw I) and flange E, and in line with this socket and flange and upon the top of the clamp B are a bearing-surface CL and retainingscrew and washer for the pivot end of the upper section provided with the hoop-holding jaw G, opposing the one D.

The clamp B is of the usual construction, as more particularlyshown in Fig. I, with its clam p-screw H binding the device to the edge of a table I, and needs no further description.

The jaws of clamp B, the bearing-surface a above it, the upward extension E, the shank O, and the lower jaw D of the hoop-clamp are all formed of one metal casting, and, asshown in the drawings, the lower hoop-jaw D is united to clamp B by a web forming a bracket combining little weight with the firmest support to the hoop-holding clamp.

The upper section of the holder comprises the hoop-jaw G, a bifurcated rear extension in the same plane with the jaw adapted to inclose the flange E, and terminal ends to this extension J, adapted to bear and pivot upon the surface a, so that the upper section when clamping the hoops K K, as shown in Fig. II, between its jaw G and the one D bears only on the tops of the hoops and the surface a.

The clam p-screw F, as shown more particularly in Fig. II, has its lower end received in a nut-socket in the lower section A, while a shoulder above anunthreaded portion of the screw bears upon the top of the upper section. A coil-springsincloses the stern of the screw,with its ends bearing,respectively,upon the two sections, so that as the jaws of the clamp are released by the screw F the upper one is borne away from the lower by the action of the spring, and the mouth of the clamp is held open, as shown in-Fig. I, to receive the hoops with their inclosed fabric.

In Figs. I, IV, and V the forked ends of extension J are shown held to the bearingsurface a by the projecting flange of a washer 1;, held by a screw to, passing into the surface a, midway between the forked ends. The washer being the equivalent of a larger screwhead, play enough is given by the washer to the forked ends to permit them to pivot upon the bearing-surface beneath them,while effectually preventing them from kicking upward when the jaw G is brought into operation. By this form of constructing extension J when it is necessary to remove jaw G to clean the device or for other reasons it is only necessary to remove screw F, when the jaw can be slid off flange E and from beneath washer u. The flange E serves to insure the proper movement to jaw G relative to its opposing one, while entirely relieving screw F of the lateral strain it would be subjected to had it to serve as a guide, and in that way adds materially to the life of the device, as well as to its efficiency, by preventing the clamp-screw F from binding in operation and so permitting one hand to perfectly manipulate the clamping-jaws, while leaving the other hand free to hold the hoops containing the work.

The construction of the hoop-holding jaws to insure the firmest grip, to readily take in various sizes of hoops, and to permit the hoops to be inserted in the shortest time and with the minimum amount of care is as follows: .Both jaws D and G are, as shown in Fig. IV, extended segments of the largest hoop that would ordinarily be used, and their bearing-surfaces are deep enough to clamp the smallest hoops. The lower jaw D is provided at the rear of its bearing-surface with an upright flange (1 of less depth than the hoops, which flange serves as a guide or stop, enabling the hoops iuclosing fabric to be simply inserted in the open mouth of the clamp and pushed back until they bear against the flange. It also serves as a guard to prevent projecting edges of the fabric in the hoops from coming in contact with screw F and interfering with its operation or from becoming themselves soiled from lubricant used upon the screw.

As shownin Fig. III in exaggeration for the sake of better illustration, the bearing-surface of clamp-jaw G is formed concave, so that the first action of screw F in clamping the jaws is to overcome a spring in the jaw before bringing it to a continuous bearing on the hoops. This insures the outer extremities of the jaws binding with equal foi ce with their central parts immediately under the screw and is regarded as import-an t. The depth of the concavity does not have to be great and is effected in a casting, and it is immaterial in which jaw the concavity is formed.

By these means I construct a light easilyoperated hoop-holder and one strong enough to easily support upon the fabric within the hoops the hand of the workman.

Now, having described my invention, what I claim isl. In a hoop-holder of the class described, the combination with a lower section comprising a bench-clamp, an outward extending shank therefrom,a segmental clamp-jaw upon said shank provided with a surface adapted to seat the hoops upon their edges, a guidingflange above said shank, a pivot-bearing sur face above the bench-clamp, and a screwsocket intermediate to the guide-flange and segmental jaw, of an upper section comprising an opposing segmental jaw adapted to cooperate with the lower jaw in clamping the hoops upon their edges, provided with a rearward bifurcated extension inclosing the guid ing-flange, and with extremities adapted to pivot above the bench-clamp, and a springinclosed clamp-screw for drawing thejaws together and throwing them apart when released.

2. In an embroidery-hoop holder, the combination with a lower section comprising a bench-clamp, an outward -extending shank therefrom, a segmental clamp-jaw upon said shank provided with a guide rim, as described, and adapted to bind upon the edges of the hoops, a bearing-surface located above the bench-clamp, a screw-socket in rear of the segmental clamp, and a guide-flange between the screw-socket and pivot-bearing, of an upper section comprising a segmental jaw for opposing the lower one, having a pivoted end confined as described to its bearing-surface, a bifurcated shank embracing the guideflange, and a clamp-screw and spring operating to close and throw open the segmental jaws, all operating as shown and described.

LUOIUS DIMOCK.

Witnesses:

R. F. HYDE, H. S. OALLUMUS. 

